Beautiful Together
by bowserissherlocked
Summary: Short Rei/Nagisa one shot. Rei doubts his abilities until Nagisa brings up some old memories. Sorry for any inaccuracies, I'm fairly new to the fandom! Also, I apologize for it being so short, I wrote this in a short amount of time.


The sun was beginning to set over the bay as the teammates took their last few laps before exiting the pool. One by one they recorded their times on the chart their manager Kou had painstakingly created, an intricate jumble of names, graphs, and numbers. They then went back into the locker rooms to shower and change.

But one of the boys stayed at the edge of the pool, feet partially submerged in the water, gently kicking back and forth. He pushed his brightly-colored glasses up the bridge of his nose, the crossed his arms in front of his bare chest. It was still cool, seeing as it was early in the season and late in the afternoon. He watched the water as it was disturbed by the motion of his feet, spreading out in circles from his ankles.

He always admired the beauty of the water; growing up so close to open bodies of water made him have a great appreciation of the grandness of nature. Of course, he had an appreciation for the beauty in everything, and the science behind it. If something was not beautiful in his eyes, it was unappealing to him, and if he was unappealing in any way...well, that was bearing near to a disgrace.

Still, even surrounded by the beauty of water and the movement it made, he was lonely. Cripplingly so. He was never one to make friends easily, and the fact that he had grown multiple friendships from joining the swim club was unbelievable. Luckily, he knew who it was to thank. One person had believed in his capabilities from the very beginning, even after learning that he couldn't swim. One person who-

"Rei?" His thoughts were interrupted by a voice from behind him. He turned around and smiled before the boy sat down next to him, still wearing his swimsuit, and stuck his feet in the water as well.

"I was just thinking about you," Rei admitted, averting his friend's eyes. He wondered if Nagisa had any idea of his feelings for him. Rei himself was convinced that Nagisa's feelings did not reflect his own. Sure, they were friendly with one another, but then again, Nagisa showed the same amount of excitement and compassion towards everyone he met.

"Really?" An incredibly wide smile spread across Nagisa's face. "What were you thinking about?"

Rei blushed a bit. He was hoping that his friend didn't notice the pink glow that dusted his cheeks and along his nose.

"Oh, you know..." he tried to think of a believable response, "just your digilence when it came to recruiting me for the team. You went all out back then. And...well, I was-less than desirable for our success, I think." Rei lowered his head.

Nagisa paused. What was he supposed to say in response to that? Rei wasn't the best swimmer, but anything less than that was inaccurate.

"Well, what did I tell you when I was trying to get you on the team?" Nagisa asked. He looked at Rei's face closely, his friend's eyes still flitting around uncomfortably, looking at everything but Nagisa. Rei didn't answer the question, but instead sighed.

"I told you that you were beautiful." Nagisa smiled weakly, then slumped his shoulders to rest his elbows on his knees. "I still think that."

Rei's face lit up, a gasp catching in his throat. His blush was even more furious now, stretching from his cheeks down to his collarbone.

"Listen, Rei, I know that you may not feel the same way, but I want you to know that I like you. A lot. And if you don't li-"

Nagisa was cut off by Rei grabbing his face between his hands.

"You are beautiful," Rei said simply, staring into Nagisa's eyes. "And you know how much that means coming from me," he added with a shy smile. Nagisa laughed and opened his mouth in a wide smile that only made Rei happier. Two minutes ago, he'd been wondering if Nagisa even cared about him and now they sat by the pool, his hands on Nagisa's cheeks, foreheads pressed together with their words mingling in the small space between their lips.

Their smiles faded as Rei threaded one hand into Nagisa's golden-colored hair and slipped the other behind the smaller boy's neck. With the flutter of Nagisa closing his eyes, he took it as a go-ahead. With that, he lowered his face even further and pressed their lips together gently, melding together as easily and softly as it was to glide through the water that still tickled the bases of their feet.

As their kiss became even more heated, Rei began to shift so that he was directly in front of Nagisa, submerged in the water up to his waist. This caused Nagisa to have to hunch over a bit to get access to Rei's lips, but it felt wonderful to have Rei's strong hands on his back, warmth spreading up his spine. He pulled away from Rei's lips briefly to catch his breath, gave a sweet smile, the connected their lips once more, sliding himself into the water as well.

The sun had fully set. In a matter of moments, their lives had changed completely. It didn't matter to either of them at the moment, but the opinions of their friends would come into play at some point. Of course, they also didn't know that both Haru and Makoto were standing by the door of the locker room, smiling in pride at the two. Although Rei and Nagisa remained oblivious to their feelings towards each other, the other members of the team had seen the clear signs from the start.

And they stood, amidst the cool, clear water, the moon shining down on them. The rays danced off the surface of the pool, hitting their bodies and illuminating their faces. The water and the moon were beautiful on their own. But Rei and Nagisa, they were beautiful together.


End file.
